jazimals-blog

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🤔🤔🤔

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who the heck is that

[April 11, 2018] (two months between photos)

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Let me tell y’all about Cephalopods. They are beautiful, weird, and totally under appreciated.

A Cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda such as a squid, octopus or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot. Featured here from top to bottom is: Stubby Squid, Dwarf Cuttlefish, Bobtail Squid, Blue-Ring Octopus, Googly-Eyed Squid, Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Flapjack Octopus, and the Nautilus.

Right now I am undertaking an artistic journey, illustrating an array of species and calling to attention these spectacular creatures. All of these are done in Prismacolor pencils. Come vote on my Instagram account @tallandartsy on which cephalopods you want to see next!

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FACT OF THE DAY:  zebras’ stripes are not always black and white.  sometimes they are black and orange

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okay I finally found that ’old country’ ammonia and have started cycling. I put two moss balls in and have the heater higher than I normally would in the helps of speeding things along a little. might also take a decoration or two from the tank Felix is currently in and put them in this one.

I can’t find info on this one thing though: my filter has three different modes - will the strength of the filter flow affect cycling at all?

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“What If Our Pets Were Bugs??”

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I’m getting a major surgery in almost exactly a month and I’m reeaally hoping this tank finishes cycling in that time because I don’t want my roommates to be doing it and I also want to see my little guy move in ‘cause this new tank is six times bigger than what he’s in now, which is exciting

I trust them to feed him and I think I can trust them with water changes but I’ll definitely want to monitor those

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@thebettacult @brotweiler @bluecheeseisnotahappycheese @seapiggies @littlekingaquatic @shivers-zoo-and-aquarium @cynic-view @mi-danartha

Thanks all of you! I decided to just get ammonia because I’ve heard the fish food method can get gross and smelly, which I don’t want to risk.

It was annoyingly difficult to find but I did find some at London Drugs. It passes the shake test (doesn’t foam or anything, just acts like water) but it does have something called “Bitrex” in it. Bitrex is also known as denatonium, which is added to stop kids from drinking the ammonia since it’s extremely bitter tasting.

Does this ammonia sound safe to use still?

I don’t know where to get ammonia for tank cycling - help??? I live in canada.

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Cordial is so photogenic

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I don’t know where to get ammonia for tank cycling - help??? I live in canada.

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The princes of the summer, winter, spring, and autumn faerie courts.

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Corydoras Minimum Tank Sizes

Corydoras is a genus of popular schooling catfish from South America. They are generally small, and a popular choice for domestic betta tankmates, or as part of a community tank. They like soft, acidic water. They tend to be most active in the evenings. They should be kept on soft, smooth substrate so as not to damage their barbels.

Thank you to @huntershibas @immersive-lore-friendly-cheese and @narelleart for reading over this for me and helping me make this post better written and more accurate.

Pygmy Corydoras (C. pygmaeus, C. habrosus, C. hastatus) These common corys are on the small side. In order, they are 3 cm, 3-3.5cm, and 2.5-3.2cm in length. While they may be tiny, they are highly social like all corydoras. You would need a minimum school of 6 individuals, though 8-10 is a much preferred number. Pairs or trios are not acceptable, they need to be social with a large group of conspecifics. They are quite active. While a 10 gallon is usually recommended as the minimum, it is truly far too small for these fish, despite their small size. A 20 gallon long should be the smallest considered, and will give you enough room for at least 10 individuals.

Average Corydoras (such as C. aeneus, C. panda, C. trilineatus) These are larger than the pygmy corydoras, but smaller than the larger corys. In order, the examples are 6.5-7.5cm, 5cm, and 5.5cm in length. Again, you would need a minimum of 6 individuals, but they do best in schools of 10+ due to their gregarious, social nature. Easily twice the size of pygmies, the average sized corys should not be kept in a tank with a length less than three (3) feet in order to provide adequate room to perform normal behaviors and to be active. A 30 breeder would be a good tank for a school of 10. Larger specimens of C. aeneus might need a 33 long.

Large Corydoras (such as C. pantanalensis, C. splendens, C. robustus) These are a bit larger than the average corydoras. In order, the examples are 8cm, 7-8cm (with females getting larger), and 9.5cm in length. Due to their large size, a 40 breeder should be the smallest recommended. For groups more than six, especially of the larger C. robustus, an even larger tank may need to be considered. Like all corys, these are highly social fish and also highly active- they need space to stretch their fins! *Note- C. splendens may in fact better be referred to as Brochis splendens. This is a bit debated, Planet Catfish lists them as Brochis, but Seriously Fish uses Corydoras.

I urge you to give your corydoras above and beyond the minimum. That way, they have more swimming space, and you can boost their numbers, which they will appreciate. They often get the short end of the stick, seen just as bottom feeders to round out a community or live with a betta, leading to them getting stuck in small tanks with undersized schools, sometimes outside of their comfortable range. In the wild, they school in the hundreds. I promise, you cannot give them too much space! In a big tank with a large school that caters to your needs, you’ll soon fall in love with the enchanting corys.

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Beyond the Betta

I want to preface this: I loved bettas, at one point when I was about 15 I had well over a dozen bettas. Nothing could stop me, especially when Minibow 5’s were constantly on sale. I still like bettas, I think they have a ton of personality and they’re really fun, engaging fish that are incredibly accessible and are pretty cheap to set up. The unfortunate thing is that bettas are sick, they’re overpriced genetic disasters which can be a grab bag of problems. Bettas ten years ago aren’t the same bettas we have now, we have so many different varieties in such a short span of time, all due to inbreeding offspring to parent or offspring to offspring in order to preserve, expand upon, or replicate a desirable trait that sprung up from the genetic mish mash that bettas are. I still assert that non-dragon scale plakats, normal veils and crown tails are some of the healthier bettas you can get.

Now, I am NOT saying that you’re a bad person for having a betta of whatever variety, healthy or not. I am not telling you to get rid of your betta or to never ever get a betta again. You can have your bettas, you can get future bettas. This isn’t an article that’s telling you to get rid of your bettas. I know that everyone leaps to that conclusion any time I or others make posts critical of modern bettas and their ‘designer’ varieties.

But the thing is, you don’t always need to go back to bettas. You can expand your horizons and choose healthier fish in tanks that people normally just leave for bettas. All of these fish have their own charms and quirks, and while some might not have the same pizazz that you expect from bettas, they’re still worthy of appreciation.

Keep reading

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my city finally has its own reptile expo (the closest one before was 2-3 hours away by bus) and while I can’t get a reptile rn I’m so excited to just go look at them and think about it!!

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Hi there. I recently purchased my first betta about 2 weeks ago and this morning sadly he passed. I researched online a lot and took the store employee’s word for law and did everything i thought i could to make the little guy comfy. I’m bummed and feel like i failed him. The store replaced him with another betta and i want to make sure everything is good for this guy! Any tips or suggestions? Thanks!

Hi, there. :)

I’m sorry for your loss. Yeah, sadly, more times than not, the employees are not well-informed. Even the ones that are often still have to push horrible products and practices to keep their jobs.

Here are the articles I typically share with new owners:

Betta Care Sheet

7 Tips for Building a Simple Betta Tank

Pet Supplies You Need to Care for Your Betta Fish

Healthy Vs. Unhealthy Betta Fish

Other helpful reads as well:

Betta Myths Debunked by scalestails

What Is Aquarium Cycling? by scalestails

Why Betta Bowls Are Bad by aquariadise

Other betta care sheets:

Betta Care Sheet by aquariadise

Betta Care Sheet by tser

Betta Care Sheet by scalestails

Betta Care Sheet by elemental-kiss

Betta Care Graphic by bettablogging

I hope this helps!

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Pros and Cons of Various Frogs and Toads

its the list we’ve been waiting for *its a meme dont call me out

American toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

that’s my baby Hippolyta!

Pros -chubby orbs -small faces -love to burrow in the dirt Cons -hard to find as pets -sometimes they’re all the way in the soil and you can’t find them -its really hard to find their poops

Pacman frog (genus Ceratophrys)

him

Pros -lots of colors -very common -get pretty big Cons -eat other frogs -don’t have a neck haha no neck boy -bitey sometimes

African dwarf frog (Hymenochirus boettgeri)

this man

Pros -look ridiculous -gregarious af -little Cons -can be asymptomatic carriers of chytrid -aquatic so no hold -a little too ridiculous

Tomato frog (Dyscophus guineti)

a smug fruit boy

Pros -look like fruit -always kinda look like they farted really loudly and dont want ppl to know it was them -stance Cons -actually the false tomato frog, true tomato frogs aren’t in pet trade -no one breeds them which makes me so sad -they look like great pillows but theyre frogs and not pillows

White’s tree frog (Litoria caerulea)

her name is Jean

Pros -sticky -really have that stereotypical frog shape from cartoons and stuff -it doesnt hurt when they bite Cons -kinda basic and they know it, theyre smug :/ -sometimes bite each other cuz theyre bad at eating food -they dont live in the dirt like other self respecting toads and frogs

Oriental fire belly toad (Bombina orientalis)

its my Sparky son

Pros -semi aquatic -extremely little!! -orange belly Cons -very bad at mating, sometimes drown each other -can’t hold these boys, they jumpy -always try to eat the tongs!!!! its not food!!

Pixie frog (Pyxicephalus adspersus)

petulant!

Pros -so very big -tenacious -hold him like a baby Cons -heavy -will eat ur shoe if you give it access -you can’t train them to come when called. i just think a recall trained frog would be neat.

Dyeing dart frog (Dendrobates tinctorius)

this friend

Pros -not poisonous in captivity unless u feed em the poison gathering food -very tiny….. -stance!!!!!! Cons -imagine if they were huge. wouldnt that be fucked up or what. -eat rly little foods -come in too many morphs, species ID is going to kill me, dart frogs have killed me.